It’s summertime in the Rockies, but all is not right in the northern Colorado fishing haven of Poudre Canyon. At first glance, it looks normal. Dozens of life-jacketed people in bright blue and yellow rafts are bouncing along the Cache …

Supporters of mining the vast tracts of public lands in Wyoming, Utah and western Colorado for oil shale like to say how the region is “the Saudi Arabia’’ of the stuff. Industry cheerleaders and some members of Congress cite government …